Toyota NCWTS Charlotte post-race notes and quotes

Matt Crafton continues to lead the unofficial point standings after four of 22 races.

Kyle Busch won Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch win enabled Tundra drivers to equal the record for most consecutive wins in NCWTS competition at six dating back to Erik Jones’ win at Phoenix International Speedway in Nov. 2013. Tundra drivers also earned six straight victories in 2010.

Busch has earned four of the last five victories at Charlotte in NCWTS competition driving a Tundra. He started from the pole and led the field twice for a total of 130 laps (of 134).

Tundra drivers have now won all four NCWTS races this season. Busch has wins at Charlotte, Kansas and Daytona -- his only three NCWTS starts of 2014 -- and Matt Crafton finished first at Martinsville Speedway. They have registered 116 NCWTS wins since the start of the 2004 season.

Busch has the most victories in a Toyota with 110 total Toyota wins in 479 starts (25 NSCS, 54 NNS and 32 NCWTS). Crafton (second), John Wes Townley (fourth) and Timothy Peters (fifth) earned top-five finishes in the race.

Crafton continues to lead the unofficial point standings after four of 22 races. Peters (second), German Quiroga (third) and Sauter (fourth) are also in the top-five.

Were you worried with so many cautions late in the race? “You’re always worried -- some of those cautions with a lot of debris just being drug down the backstretch and then drug through the corners and stuff, you’re never sure what you’re going to run over and get a flat tire. This Hiring Our Heroes Toyota Care Toyota Tundra was awesome tonight. I just can’t say enough about all these guys -- everyone at KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports), everyone at TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Monster Energy and Joe Gibbs Racing engines -- this thing was stout under the hood today.

It showed in qualifying and it showed in the race. I appreciate Camping World again having them coming back and sponsoring this series pretty good for the long term. Of course the fans, good turnout here in Charlotte. It was a fun race for us. We had a dominant piece and we were just really, really strong especially on the long run. It seems like other guys would fall off and I’d beat them a little bit here or there, but it seemed like in traffic I didn’t lose as much in traffic as much as other guys.”

What is the secret to your restarts? “Nope, no secrets. I think the biggest thing is timing everything and just getting everything right. A lot of those guys are trying to hang back on me and then try to roll up on my side and time it to where they were in the gas and having the momentum rolling. You play those games and you see those games happen so when they start rolling you start rolling even though it’s before the zone, you’re at least start inching and then you go when you get to the zone. It’s what you’ve got. Sometimes when those guys were inching on me too much I actually waited until the far end of the zone and didn’t even go at all. When you do that you bunch up guys behind you so you can cause a wreck doing that so I try not to do that too often.”

How strong was the race truck? “My guys worked really, really hard over the winter time building some really good chassis and some really good trucks. It just all comes together here. It makes my job look easy, but it’s these guys behind me that do all the hard work so I appreciate them and what all they do. We’ve got the whole KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) team up in the grandstands tonight -- of course many of them here that work on the deal. This Hiring Our Heroes Toyota Care Tundra was awesome tonight -- just on rails. It was in Kansas, it was here and I think we’ve got something for these guys here. We’ll see how it goes with Erik Jones coming up and getting him in the seat.”

Is there anything from tonight’s race that can transfer to the All-Star race tomorrow night? “No, not really. These trucks here they handle entirely different. We were wide open there at the end of the race -- just so much grip out there with these things. We felt really, really good. The Cup cars not so much. You could haul the mail for a few laps, but then they really start to fall off and they get tighter or you get loose. You just have to keep the tires on it.”

How would you describe the evening? “Just tried to be patient. We started the night off -- we were definitely off -- really tight. The place didn’t free up quite as much as it usually does from what I’ve seen. We just kept making small adjustments, small adjustments on it to make it better. We made it quite a bit better for the short run -- I could run with Kyle (Busch). I ran about five back from him for five, six, seven laps then I got tight just like I was all night. I think if we had one more adjustment I don’t think he would have been able to drive away from us like he did at the end right there.”

How was it having long green flag runs at the start of the race and a second half filled with cautions? “That’s just the way it is in racing. I’ve heard them say before, ‘Caution breed cautions.’ All in all, not a bad night. This Menard’s Toyota Tundra was pretty good.

Is tonight’s finish déjà vu from Kansas? “I’m getting tired of it. You’re getting beat by one of the best in business, but it still doesn’t make it any sweeter because I want to win these races.”

How was your race? “At first, to be honest I was kind of worried. We had been tight all day. It just turned out though that everybody else freed up -- and we just kind of got to a neutral point. We were still a little bit on the tight side. But, we managed to get my career best in the Truck Series out of it. I can’t thank Zaxby’s and Toyota enough. A really good night for us.”

How pleased are you with tonight’s result? “Career best. Great night for Zaxby’s and Toyota. I’m really happy. I couldn’t really ask for a whole lot more. It was tight all day. For it to turn out like this I’m really happy about. We’ll keep on trucking and go on to Dover.”

What happened with you and Ryan Blaney on the track? “I heard inside. But, it was so late that there was just nothing I could do about it. He was already there and I was already there.”

What did Ryan Blaney say to you after the race? “Well, his point -- I think he’s a little upset. The thing about it is it’s racing. Unfortunately, I would have gave him the line if I knew he was there. I heard inside and unfortunately it was just too late for me to do anything about it. So, I hate that.”

What happened in the accident? “It looked like the 5 (John Wes Townley) just got into the 29 (Ryan Blaney) and he went to the grass and kind of got air born there and had nowhere to go and just kind of plowed into him. We had a really fast Bullet Liner Toyota here -- we’ve had a fast Bullet Liner Toyota all year and just have had some bad luck. Some of it was self-inflicted, but was really proud of the guys. We had a really fast truck and we’ll see what the future holds for us.”

What happened in the accident that ended your race? “Scary moment. We had some troubles there late to the middle of the race -- the gauges were flipping on and off and the motor was skipping so we figured it was a dead battery. We tried to ride it out and it was starting to lose some volts. We decided to come in there and Jerry (Baxter, crew chief) was iffy about losing that much track position and I’m like, ‘Well, there’s no real reason in waiting late in the race and have it happen and lose all that stuff we’ve gained.’ I made the call to come in and change it and now we’re here.

That weight is on my shoulders now, but it’s a racing deal. I knew we had to go on the restarts and I got on the outside of the 32 (Tayler Malsam) and I don’t know what else happened from there. The next thing I know I just saw I don’t know who it was come up in front of me and I’m in the fence and then the next thing you know I lose oxygen and now I’m here in the infield care center. But we’re all good. Big thanks to Toyota, Coke -- unfortunate night and we were trying to put on a good show for the fans here in Charlotte at home and we’ll go get them at the next race.”